


What If Prequel

by stellations



Series: What If Three Times [1]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-12 22:39:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5683618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellations/pseuds/stellations
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Jenna's life had taken a different turn - the lead-up to the three options</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The House Guest

**Author's Note:**

> The entire series was originally written back in 2011, so it is very old, but I couldn't resist rewriting Jenna's history. And Isobel's, too. She deserved a better send-off.

The whole evening had been a bust. Not even the shots of tequila had helped and once all hell had broken loose, Jenna had just given up on having a normal night out. It wasn't going to happen. As she watched Alaric leave the porch, she felt her heart wrench out of her chest and walk behind him. It didn't even come back as she pushed open the front door and turned her back on him. Her heart belonged to him because, in spite of everything, she still loved him and that was why it hurt so much.

"Hey." Elena's voice broke through her thoughts as she shut the door again. "You made it home."

That was certainly one way to put it.

"Tonight was very weird," Jenna responded, brushing past Elena and moving into the kitchen. Not even another hard drink would smooth this one over.

"Tell me about it," Elena murmured behind her, following her aunt into the kitchen. The air was thick between them and the longer Elena stayed downstairs, the more Jenna felt that tension. She needed a huge tub of ice cream. This was ridiculous.

"What does he expect from me?" Jenna continued, the pain turning into anger again. "Does he think talking to me will smooth everything over and make me forget all the lies?"

"Jenna…"

The hesitation and pain in Elena's voice pulled Jenna's head out of the freezer. "What?" What was that tone about?

Elena fidgeted with her hands a little, a sure sign that something was wrong. "What if he was doing it to protect you?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "We already went through that, Elena," she snapped, pulling out the tub of vanilla ice cream. Only a little was left, but it would be enough for what she needed. "It's not his call to make. Things happen anyway. Look at tonight." She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and stabbed the ice cream to emphasize her feelings on the whole thing. "Any number of us could have gotten hurt in whatever the hell was going on. Whatever he thinks he's protecting me from… I can handle it."

Taking the tub back to the island countertop, Jenna dug out a spoonful and indulged. It wasn't his call. She could manage whatever it was he so desperately wanted to keep from her regarding Isobel. And with the way Caroline and Elena were acting lately, Jenna was starting to feel like the odd man out for some reason and she didn't like it.

"You're right," Elena relented, releasing a huff of air in defeat. "You're absolutely right. It _isn't_ fair to you and I can't do this to you anymore. Alaric's right… I should have told you a long time ago."

Jenna frowned, turning around to watch Elena walk over to take a seat across the island from her, taking out her phone as she settled into the chair. Elena's thumbs flashed across her phone, bringing more confusion to Jenna's face. "What are you talking about?"

Elena didn't answer right away, so intent was she on her phone. Jenna exhaled sharply in annoyance, not pleased at being put off for a phone.

"Are we having a conversation or are you just brushing me off for your phone?" Jenna demanded, realizing she was being a little harsh, but not caring. She felt she deserved some answers after what had been going on lately.

"I'm just telling Stefan and Alaric what's up," Elena explained, finally tucking her phone back into her pocket. "They should both be here for this."

Jenna stared at her niece incredulously, wondering where on earth Elena though she had any right to dictate who stepped into the house and when. "I am not talking to Ric any more than I have to," she informed Elena through tightly gritted teeth as she tried desperately to hold back the tears she'd been fighting all weekend. "Until he comes clean about Isobel, I don't want to see him."

Elena paused, running a hand through her hair. "Then he should be here. Because we're going to talk about Isobel."

"Talk about Isobel?" Jenna stared at Elena, as though only really seeing her for the first time. They'd both been lying to her. "You knew? All this time you knew what happened?"

Elena pursed her lips and nodded slowly. "Yeah. But we're going to tell you everything now."

Jenna's jaw clenched in anger. "The two people I trusted most… and I find out _both_ of you have been lying to me. How can you expect me to believe you now?"

Elena took a deep breath as footsteps sounded in the hallway. "Because we're going to offer you proof."

"So you're finally coming clean to her."

John Gilbert's voice drove a nail through Jenna's heart and she stood up to put the ice cream back in the freezer. Anything so she wouldn't have to look at his smug face. 

  
"I can't deal with you right now, John," she told him with her head still in the freezer. "Not tonight."

"But we've got so _much_ to tell you–"

"Okay, you know what?" Elena interrupted fiercely. The anger in her voice made Jenna turn around. "You lost privileges on telling me what to do a long time ago and in no way do you have a right to torment Jenna like you've been doing the last few days. This isn't your call and I don't want you to be a part of it. You've ruined enough for all of us."

Jenna glanced from one person to the other, wondering what the hell was going on. Elena looked livid and John… John had his same obnoxious expression. Why Jenna had ever deigned to sleep with him she would never know.

"But neither is it yours," John informed Elena evenly, taking a few steps forward into the kitchen as Elena slid off the chair she'd been sitting on. "This isn't just about you–"

"It it's not about me, then who _is_ it about?" Elena snapped, looking angrier than Jenna could remember ever seeing her. 

"There's the Council for one thing–" 

"I don't care about the Council right now," Elena interrupted sharply. "You weren't there tonight. A whole roomful of people almost _died_ at the Grill because one warlock wanted me, including the most important people in my life."

Jenna missed what was said next as her brain tried to process the implications of Elena's statement. "A warlock wanted you for what?" That implied magic. But magic wasn't real, was it?

Elena and John glanced at her, looking as though they'd both forgotten she was there.

"It's a long story," Elena relented. "And I'll tell you everything once Alaric and Stefan are here."

"Do you really think she can handle it?" John retaliated. "It's dangerous for her to know."

"And it's dangerous for her _not_ to know!" Elena retorted. "What part of 'she could have died tonight' do you not understand?"

"The part where you all seem to have her best interests at heart."

"Funny you should say that since you're the one dropping hints about my dead wife," Alaric's voice commented from the doorway. Jenna glanced over at him, noting the cold glare he was leveling at John. Apparently, everyone was mad at John tonight. It was a regular party.

"Would somebody mind telling me what the hell is going on here?" Jenna spoke up from the corner, raising her voice to be heard over the sudden din. "If you're all going to argue in my kitchen, I want answers. Now."

Elena and Alaric traded glances as Elena ran a hand through her hair again. "Stefan should be here soon."

"I fail to see why a seventeen-year-old should be involved in whatever this is," Jenna informed the room at large, folding her arms over her chest. "Another one," she amended, glancing at Elena.

"Because he can help show you things," Elena answered. "And he can tell you things I can't."

"Is he bringing Damon?" John asked silkily.

"Damon's at home with Katherine," Stefan answered as he walked into the kitchen. Alaric moved closer to Jenna to give him room. Jenna refrained from doing the childish thing – moving away from him – and instead focused on her niece.

"Show me what?" she questioned tersely.

"Jenna." Elena sighed, glancing to Stefan this time. "This is going to sound really strange, but… do you believe in vampires?"

Jenna stared at her niece incredulously. Here they were, about to have an important conversation, and Elena was asking about _vampires_? "No I don't," she responded, giving Elena a pointed look. "They're not real."

"Actually… they are."

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"That's why Stefan's here. To show you."

Stefan's eyes flicked from Jenna to Elena. "You're sure?"

"It's too dangerous for her not to know," Elena told him with a nod.

Jenna's confusion was still written all over her face as she looked from one to the other. "Show me what?"

"I'm not a seventeen-year-old, Jenna," Stefan answered, turning to face her. "Damon and I are over a hundred years old."

As Jenna watched, his face began to change.

"We aren't descendants of the original Salvatore family. We _are_ the original Salvatore brothers."

His eyes turned red and veins popped out under them. Jenna yelped and shot backwards until she hit the kitchen sink, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Damon and I are vampires and have been for over a hundred and forty-five years."

Jenna didn't know what to say to that. Maybe it was a good thing they were playing show and tell. She wouldn't have believed it otherwise. Vampires. Real, live vampires. In her kitchen. The revelation brought with it memories, thoughts of all the stories her sister had once told her. Tears threatened her composure again, but she forced them back.

"She can't handle this–"

"This isn't your call, John," Elena interrupted. "She _needs_ to know. What good are we to her if she can't trust us?"

At least those words Jenna could get behind. She may not have fully understood what was being explained to her, but she could understand trust. She took a couple of deep breaths and voiced something she wanted answered first:

"Why didn't you tell me before this?"

"We wanted to protect you," Elena answered.

"Protect me?" Jenna spat. "Elena, I'm your legal guardian. I'm the one who's supposed to be protecting _you_! I can't do that if I don’t know what's going on!" She shook her head, meeting Elena's gaze with tears of anger and betrayal. "I'm the one looking after you."

Elena pursed her lips. "It's just that there's so much going on, so much to explain. Where do I even start?"

"Start with Isobel," Jenna suggested firmly, returning her arms to their place over her chest. Stefan moved to place a hand on Elena's shoulder and Jenna half-wished she and Alaric were on good enough terms for him to do that to her. She missed him, missed his comforting presence, even though he was standing not five feet away from her.

"You really are going all out, aren't you, Elena?" John spoke up.

"Okay, you know what?" Alaric cut him off, taking a couple of threatening steps towards John and resting a hand on the countertop. Jenna noticed the ring she'd gotten used to seeing on his finger was missing and wondered vaguely where it was. "I am tired of you trying to control the rest of us, especially in regards to Isobel. Why don't we make this simple? You shut up about all of this and I won't let Damon rip your throat out."

Jenna blinked at him in shock. Apparently he was angrier with John than she'd imagined.

John's chin lifted a few inches in defiance. "Did you ever stop to think that maybe it's better this way? Or maybe you should've told her earlier, so this wouldn't have happened."

Alaric snapped. Pulling his arm back, he put his considerable strength into punching John straight to the floor. Jenna's jaw dropped. She'd never seen Alaric lose control like that.

"You have no right to talk about what's better and what isn't," Alaric snarled as John slowly got to his feet again. Jenna could hear the pain in his voice at it made some of her anger at him dissipate. "Not after what you've done."

Stefan moved protectively in front of Elena. John barely glanced at him, one hand over the spot on his jaw where Alaric had hit him.

Whatever Alaric meant seemed to have an effect on John. Jenna couldn't tell what was passing between them as John glanced first at Stefan and then to Alaric. He gave one short nod and left the room.

"Now that he's out of the way," Alaric began, turning back to face Elena and Jenna, "Isobel."

Jenna noticed the way his fingers gripped the counter so hard they were turning white.

Elena nodded. "Right. Isobel." She took a deep breath and moved a couple of steps towards her aunt. "To make a long story short, Isobel's like Stefan and Damon; she's a vampire. But she's not exactly the same. She flipped the switch on her emotions."

That made no sense to Jenna and her expression echoed that. "What?"

"Vampires have the ability to turn off their emotions," Stefan explained. "They can choose to go about life without feeling anything. It's the easy road, the way that's easiest for a vampire to live. The ones who make this choice are the most dangerous. They will manipulate and kill without remorse."

Jenna swallowed hard, feeling a sense of fear slide heavily into the pit of her stomach. "And Isobel is one of them?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah. She was here, right before Founder's Day."

The fact that Isobel had been in town and Jenna hadn't known made her want to throw something, but she held it in for the sake of listening to Elena's explanation.

"She wanted something of Johnathan Gilbert's and told Alaric if we didn't get it to Uncle John, she'd kill everyone in town. When she met me…"

Elena's voice trailed off for a minute and she looked away, clearly blinking back tears at the memory. Stefan's arm snaked its way back around her shoulders for support.

"–she told me if I didn't give her the device, the blood would be on my hands. And she hurt Matt to prove it. That's why I didn't want you involved. What we're up against now is so much worse than Isobel and…" Her jaw worked soundlessly for a few seconds. "I don't want to lose you, Jenna."

Jenna couldn't imagine something worse than Isobel, but she didn't ask about it. Instead, she moved closer to her niece and wrapped her arms around Elena, letting the girl cry it out onto her aunt's shoulder. It brought back memories of those days in the hospital, when Elena had first found out about her parents' deaths. This time was just like that time had been and Jenna could do nothing to make it better. She hated being so helpless.

"But she's gone now, isn't she?" Jenna asked nervously, glancing at Stefan over Elena's head. The slight nod he gave eased her worries just enough.

"Now all we have to deal with is Klaus," Elena agreed, pulling away and wiping at her eyes. "And I do _not_ want you tangled up in this. Because he'll kill you if I give him half a reason to."

Jenna closed her eyes and massaged her temple for a moment. "So, how many are already involved? You three, Damon, and John?" she questioned, opening her eyes in time to see everyone trade looks again. "Now what?"

Elena sighed softly. "Jeremy knows," she began. "Bonnie's our witch, so she knows. And… Caroline's another vampire."

"Caroline?" Jenna blinked. "As in your other best friend who was in here earlier this evening? The Sheriff's daughter? That Caroline?"

Elena nodded apologetically. "And her mom doesn't know. Caroline got turned after the accident on Founder's Day."

"How?" Now that Jenna knew what was going on, she suddenly found herself hungry for every little detail. The more she knew, the safer she'd feel.

"When a human dies with vampire blood in their system," Stefan answered, "they turn into a vampire. Vampire blood also heals humans. Caroline wasn't doing well after the accident, so Damon fed her his blood to heal her, compelled her to forget it, and then Katherine came in and killed her, sent her into transition."

Jenna shook her head in confusion. "Wait, what? Transition?"

"Vampire transition," Stefan continued. "It's the period of time after the person dies. They have a limited amount of time to drink human blood and complete the transition into a fully-fledged vampire. If they don't, they'll die."

"I… see…" There were a lot of rules it seemed. "And… compelling?"

"A vampire can force a human to do whatever they want, including forgetting what they were compelled to do. The only way to block it is to wear or drink an herb called vervain. It's harmful to vampires and keeps us from being able to compel you."

"And you're not–"

Stefan shook his head firmly.

"No," Elena spoke up. "My necklace is full of vervain. Jeremy has a bracelet of it, witches can't be compelled, and your tea and perfume have had vervain in them since I found out what it does."

"Oh… so that's what that new fragrance last year was."

"I never wanted anything to happen to you." Elena offered a small, apologetic smile. "So, I made sure no one could hurt you."

It was so much to handle, so much to take in and deal with. Jenna pursed her lips. "What else should I know?" Who that Katherine they kept mentioning was would be nice, but that seemed trivial compared to everything else.

"Klaus," Alaric spoke up pointedly. "And Katherine. At least–"

He was cut off by the sound of the doorbell ringing. Jenna frowned in the direction of the front door, wondering who could be calling at this hour.

"Got it!" Jeremy's voice called from the entryway as the sound of the door opening filled Jenna's ears.

"Jeremy. How nice to see you again," a cold voice floated down to them. "And to finally meet you, Bonnie."

Elena's eyes widened and she shook her head violently. "No. Not now."

"I'm sorry to say I don't feel the same," Jeremy answered from the front room.

"What?" Jenna asked as Elena hurried into the entryway with Stefan close behind her. Feeling left out and worried by the looks in their eyes, Jenna moved to follow, but Alaric held out an arm protectively as they stood in the archway between the kitchen and the front of the house.

"I don't want you near her, Jenna," he murmured.

"Definitely don't feel the same," Bonnie commented, folding her arms over her chest. Jenna made a note to ask why Bonnie was still here later. Right now, her concentration was on the black-haired woman standing on the porch.

"What do you want, Isobel?" Alaric asked, his voice as cold as it had been while he was talking to John.

So this was Isobel. Jenna noticed she wasn't making any move to come inside and wondered about that. She made a note to ask about that later, too.

"I'd like to speak with Elena," Isobel informed the rather large gathering, "as her mother."

"I think you lost that privilege a long time ago," Alaric informed her harshly.

Elena was shaking her head as she walked up to the door. Jeremy moved from his spot to give her a little room, but Jenna noticed that he and Bonnie didn't back down and Stefan moved up next to Elena.

"I don’t _ever_ want you in this house," Elena informed Isobel venomously, slamming the door shut in her mother's face. She turned around and leaned back against the door, her hands buried in her hair. "I really, _really_ don't."

"Then she won't ever be invited in," Stefan assured her as everyone trooped back into the kitchen, Bonnie and Jeremy included. As Elena took her place close by her aunt again, Stefan wrapped an arm around her shoulders for comfort. Alaric had taken his place by Jenna, in what Jenna was taking as a protective gesture. She wasn't sure how to feel about it, so she ignored it for now.

"So, what's with the gathering in here?" Jeremy asked slowly. "Did we miss the party?"

Elena sighed, leaning back against Stefan. "We're telling Jenna everything, Jer. We’ve kept her out of things far too long."

Jeremy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Everything?"

His sister nodded. "We've told her about vampires and Isobel. Now we're up to Klaus."

"Can I ask a question now?' Jenna spoke up, interrupting the Q&A session between the siblings. "Isobel never tried to come in. I would have thought she would want to force whatever she wanted to do on us."

"She wasn't invited in and she's never going to _be_ invited in," Elena answered firmly. "Vampires can only enter private buildings like houses if the permanent resident invites them in."

Jenna frowned. "So she can't come in at all?"

"Nope," Elena confirmed. "No matter how much she wants to, she can't hurt us here."

"I love how I'm the last to know," Jenna muttered, running a hand through her hair to calm her nerves. No one contradicted her, so she just sighed and continued. "All right, who's this Klaus you keep bringing up? And Katherine? What about her?"

Everyone traded looks again and she could tell immediately that this would be a harder story to deal with than Isobel's.

"Klaus is a vampire," Elena began. "One of the Original vampires. He wants to break the curse of the sun and the moon. To do that, he has to sacrifice the Petrova doppelgänger."

"Why?"

"It's an old legend that a curse binds werewolf power to the full moon and prevents vampires from walking in the sun," Stefan continued where Elena had left off. "Whichever clan breaks the curse gets full power benefits and control over the other."

"So, Klaus wants it for the vampires?" Jenna summed up with a frown of concentration as she pieced everything together.

"That's all we can figure," Stefan affirmed.

"Do you know who the doppelgänger is?"

Silence. Jenna didn't like the looks flitting around or the way everyone was avoiding looking at her.

Eventually, Elena broke the silence. "Katherine Pierce, also known as Katerina Petrova, was the first, five hundred years ago," Elena answered. "She was turned before they could complete the ritual. So, now Klaus is after the second one."

"Who's the second one?" Jenna asked warily, suddenly afraid of the answer.

Silence again, a silence that drove nails through the heaviness in Jenna's stomach.

Elena was the one to break it the second time as well. "They thought the line ended with her. She's been running from Klaus ever since she turned. But then the second one was found. And people started mistaking her for Katherine. Because they found out I look exactly like her."

The breath sped out of Jenna's lungs in one fell swoop as the full realization of what this meant hit her like a bag of bricks to her chest. "No."

"We're going to find a way around it, Jenna," Elena insisted, taking a couple of steps closer to her aunt. "I'm not going to die."

Tears pricked Jenna's eyes and she shook her head, unable to accept any of this. "Elena… when I took you and Jeremy in, I swore I would protect you. I can't…" She took a shallow, shuddering breath. "I can't protect you from that."

"I know," Elena assured her, taking her aunt's hands in her own. "We'll figure something out. I promise."

But that was the last straw for Jenna, who felt as though her whole world was turning upside down. First vampires were suddenly real. Then her boyfriend's wife ended up coming back from the grave. And now she'd found out that her niece was slated to die in some ritual to break a curse for God only knew what. It was all too much for Jenna, too much for someone who felt useless and hated it.

"I can't do this… I can't _handle_ this."

Without another word, Jenna brushed past Alaric and Jeremy and headed for the stairs. She could hear footsteps behind her and Elena's worried huff of breath, but she didn't stop. What Jenna needed was solitude to cry out her frustration and fear.

She reached her room and sat down on her bed, burying her face in her hands. The door clicked softly shut behind her and a moment later she found herself being gently pulled sideways until her head rested against a hard, familiar surface. An arm wrapped around her shoulders as she buried her head in Alaric's shirt and cried until she had nothing left. She didn't know how long she sat there, clinging to him and hoping to wake up from the nightmare today had turned out to be, but it felt like hours had passed by the time she calmed down. Pulling away, she wiped at her eyes.

"Thank you," she murmured, still unsure of how exactly she was supposed to feel about him. She did still love him – probably always would – but the pain was still there.

"Hey, you took it better than we thought you would," Alaric told her gently, removing his arm from around her shoulders. Neither of them could really tell how close or far apart they were supposed to be it seemed, now that the truth was the only thing hanging between them.

Jenna snorted, raising her eyebrows at him. "I took it like a nutjob."

"Better that than something else," he commented and they both offered small smiles. The ice between them seemed to melt a little, but Jenna still wasn't sure what to do next.

"Yeah," she offered, ducking her head to avoid looking at him.

"Are you… gonna be okay, Jenna?" he asked in concern.

She took a few breaths before looking back up at him and nodding. "Yeah. It's just… a lot to take in."

"I know," he agreed. "But you'll be fine. You've got all of us to support you."

She nodded again, not really sure how to respond to that. Silence fell once more, and soon enough Alaric stood. Jenna watched him, suddenly wondering if he was going to leave and feeling rather like she wanted him to stay. But she didn't know how to voice that, so she just let her eyes move up to meet his.

"I think I'm gonna let you rest," he finally spoke. "Do you… mind if I crash downstairs for the night?"

Jenna shook her head and looked back down at her hands. Having him here all night would actually make her feel a lot better. She bit her lower lip as he quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him. It felt like he was shutting the door between them again and she didn't like it. They could be honest with each other now; there was no reason why they shouldn't be able to try again. Maybe this time it would be easier since she now knew what had happened to his wife. They could talk without worrying about what not to say to her. It wouldn't be exactly the same as their carefree relationship had once been, but it was a start.

Or would be, if she ever got up the nerve to talk to him about it.

Steeling herself, Jenna finally stood and headed out of the room and back downstairs. She could hear someone in the kitchen, so that was where she looked first. Alaric was there, standing with one hand on the counter as he sipped from a glass of water. The glass was quickly set on the counter and he frowned at the sight of her.

"Jenna?"

She ran a hand through her hair and stopped by the island, looking up at him as she tried to figure out how to say what she needed him to hear.

"Ric, I…" she began, letting her voice trail off before trying again. "I want you to know that… I understand. I understand why you were hiding things, why you couldn't tell me about Isobel, why you said it wasn't your story to tell. I get it and I know it's going to take time to repair things between us."

She pursed her lips and took a couple of steps closer, glad he wasn't trying to say anything before she could get everything out. "It won't be easy. But I'd like to try. I don't like being angry with you and if there's even a chance to make things better between us… then I want to do it. Okay?"

Jenna searched his eyes, taking his hand in one of hers as she tried to discern what he was thinking. Part of her was holding her breath, unsure if he'd take this offer. Just as she was beginning to think he wanted to hold off, he smiled and her heart melted again. How was it he could always make her feel better?

"I'd like that," he murmured.

Relief nearly swamped her, and she offered a smile in return. Plucking up her courage, she stepped forward, leaning up and tilting her head so she could kiss him. He seemed surprised by the gesture at first, but by the time they pulled back to look into each other's eyes, he had leaned into her touch. They were so close she could feel his breath against her skin. After only a few seconds, she leaned up again to kiss him a second time. His free hand moved to her hip as she placed hers against his cheek. Their other hands remained together, fingers entwined as her heart sang. Maybe now they could work things out and life would stop feeling so wrong. Maybe now–

"Oh!"

Jenna and Alaric let go like they were teenagers caught doing something behind school. Not that Jenna had any experience in that department.

"I'm sorry…" Elena looked startled to have walked in on her aunt making out with her history teacher / step father.

Jenna could feel her cheeks flushing. This was the second time they'd been caught together by Elena and the third time either of the kids had walked in on them since they'd started dating. They really needed to stop doing that.

"I… didn’t know you were back down here."

"Uh, yeah, couldn't sleep," Jenna answered, still blushing terribly. "I hope we didn't wake you up." Though she couldn't imagine how they would have, seeing as they hadn't done anything other than talk and share a few kisses.

"No, we're not– I didn't go to sleep."

Jenna heard that slip-up and frowned. She didn't really care if Stefan and Bonnie were staying the night. It just would have been nice to know. "Are Stefan and Bonnie still here?"

Elena fumbled the pickup. "Yeah. Bonnie's with me and Stefan's with Jeremy."

Jenna closed her eyes in frustration for a second. Why had she expected honesty after so long being lied to? Did any of them know how to be truthful with her?

"Elena," she began with a warning note to her voice and no small amount of frustration, "I don't care if Stefan and Bonnie are spending the night. John might, but I don't. I'd be a hypocrite if I did. I just want you to be honest with me. I'm tired of being lied to."

"Okay then," Elena amended. Jenna was at least a little pleased to see that she looked mildly ashamed. "Stefan's staying with me and Bonnie's with Jeremy."

Jenna gave her a pointed look. "Thank you."

"Are you… okay?" Elena asked as she moved to get a glass of water. "I know it's a lot to take in and I didn't mean to overload you. I just thought you deserved to know everything."

Jenna nodded with a sigh. Her head was starting to hurt. "I have to sort it all out. But I'm glad you told me." Even if she wasn't happy to find out some of these things, at least she could say she felt better knowing.

Elena didn't answer; she just set her glass on the counter and wrapped her aunt up in another hug. Jenna leaned into the embrace, thankful that she could be included in everything now. Hopefully.

When Elena pulled back, both women had tears glistening in their eyes.

"I'm… going back upstairs," Elena finally told the adults as she grabbed her glass of water. "The four of us are kind of hanging out right now, but if you need me – any of us – just call. We'll do anything to help, okay?"

Jenna nodded again. "Thank you, Elena."

"You're welcome," Elena murmured as she turned to head back up to her room. Jenna sighed and moved to follow before she remembered that Alaric was still there. She turned back to face him.

"Do you… want to come upstairs for the night?" she asked, hoping he would humor her and say yes.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" he responded carefully, watching Jenna.

"I know you're just a human and you can't protect me any more than I can," she began in a hurry, "but I don’t think I have it in me to spend tonight alone." Even if all they did was fall asleep next to each other, Jenna just needed his presence.

"Fair enough." Alaric picked up his glass of water and took a couple more steps toward her. 

  
She offered him a smile before she turned and headed back upstairs. Walking into her room, hearing the door shut behind her, and knowing Alaric was in the room with her brought back so many memories. She headed for the bathroom to calm down a little bit and get ready for bed. That's all it would be that night: sleeping in the same room together.

Once she had changed into the tank top and shorts she usually wore to bed, she returned to the bedroom to find Alaric awkwardly sitting on the bed. Hesitating as she tossed her dirty clothes on the laundry pile in her closet, she slowly walked over to sit next to him on the bed. He was twisting his fingers around his hands in what looked to Jenna like a nervous habit. She figured he was as uncertain about all of this as she was. One of her hands inched towards and eventually covered his, trying to still both of their nerves.

"Jenna…" Alaric murmured. Jenna's eyes wandered down to his lips for a brief second before returning to his eyes. "Should I take the floor?"

She shook her head. "You can… stay up here if you want," she answered, not letting go of his hand. After everything that had happened, she _needed_ his physical presence.

"Then I will."

Alaric pulled out of her grasp long enough to kick his shoes off. Jenna was half-expecting him to strip down to his boxers to make it easier for him to sleep, but he didn't. Maybe he was just trying to make her more comfortable. They ended up under the covers and she was nestled in his arms with her head tucked under his chin before she worked up the courage to let him know what else was going through her mind.

"I can't stop thinking about what Elena said," she mumbled against his shirt, "about the sacrifice."

"She's not going to die, Jenna," Alaric told her quickly, almost too quickly. "We'll find a way. Stefan and Damon are devoted to her, Jeremy cares about her, and Bonnie and Caroline are her best friends. We won't let anything happen to her."

Jenna took a deep, shuddering breath. "I just keep thinking about what it would be like if someone else were watching Jeremy and Elena," she continued, wrapping her fingers around chunks of Alaric's shirt. And then I wonder if they'd be able to do a better job, if they could handle all of this." She pulled herself just an inch closer to him. "What would Miranda and Grayson have done differently?"

"Hey," Alaric pulled back, gently tilting her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "Don't think like that. You're doing the best job you can and considering everything we've been hiding from you, you've done a damn good job of it so far. I'm sure they're grateful someone who cares about them is watching their children."

Jenna shook her head and tucked herself back up against his chest. "Some days I wonder."

As Alaric gently kissed the top of her head and held her close, Jenna wondered again. How would Miranda and Grayson have dealt with all of this? For so long, Jenna had thought the most she had to worry about was making sure everyone in the house passed their classes. Now she knew better. Now she knew what they were up against and that knowledge terrified her.

Squeezing her eyes shut, she blocked out what she could of the pain and the worry, but it wasn't enough to stem the flow of tears. So she cried against his shoulder for the second time that night. Everything hurt. The pain of realizing Alaric had been lying to her had been huge. Finding out her niece was slated to _die_ was much worse. Jenna didn't know what to do anymore. She felt like her life was falling apart around her, and she hated that. 

"Every time I think about what could happen…" Jenna shook her head against his chest again, choking back another sob. "I almost gave them up, Ric. I didn't want that responsibility. But when I really sat down to think about it… I realized it was either me or John and I couldn't stand the thought of my sister's children living with someone like him."

She took another breath as she felt Alaric's arms tighten around her and one of his hands start rubbing her back comfortingly. She took strength in his touch, letting him sooth her as best he could.

"And now," she continued, "I think about losing them and it hurts. John's threats about being Elena's biological father make me afraid that he could take her away from me." She paused again, long enough to tighten her grip on Alaric's shirt even as she leaned back to look him in the eyes again. "I don't know what I'll do if I lose them, Ric."

"You won't lose them," he assured her. "John would be stupid to pull them away from you right now, especially Elena. We're all trying to protect her together. And you're doing a fine job of helping. We'll figure something out, okay?"

Jenna nodded again, her eyes sliding subconsciously down to his lips as they were wont to do when she was this close to him. As her head tilted back and his lips met hers again, she wondered if he was right. Was he lying to protect her again or did he really believe she was playing an important part in everything? She wanted nothing more than to be able to trust him and she hated John Gilbert for the doubt that still lingered.


	2. Know Thy Enemy - Part 1

Waking up the next morning was hard for Jenna. Her head ached so much more than she would have thought possible. Maybe she'd had one too many shots last night and stayed up way too late. Whatever the cause, she groaned from the throbbing in her temples and curled up, disturbing the arm curled around her stomach. For a moment, she was confused, sleep-addled mind wondering who she'd slept with in this fit of hurt and betrayal. Then she remembered what had happened, what she'd learned… and who was sleeping behind her. She hadn't slept with anyone last night, but she had kissed Ric several times to make herself feel better. How that felt the next morning was always a toss-up, but it was also pretty normal for her. She sighed and shifted again.

"Jenna?" Ric's voice floated into her ears from somewhere behind her.

"Hm?" she responded, only offering a grunt in reply as her head didn't want to contemplate words yet.

"I didn't want to wake you up," he murmured softly, his breath tickling her neck as his arms tightened around her.

"Thank you," she responded just as softly, mostly because her head still hurt.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, shifting to scoot closer to her. Jenna appreciated his closeness. Having him there, feeling him behind her like this, comforted her and after what she'd gone through last night, she really needed that comfort.

"I feel like someone should be auditioning me for a soap opera," she admitted, leaning back against him with a groan. "My boyfriend's dead wife turns up outside my house on the night I almost get killed and find out that vampires are real. I think I'm doing pretty well for the morning after." She shook her head a little in disbelief and winced as the world spun. "Minus the hangover."

"I told you Senor Tequila wouldn't treat you very well," Ric teased.

Jenna couldn't help it; she laughed. Leave it to Ric to turn a potentially awkward conversation into something far less tense. "You've been spending too much time with the Salvatores," she countered, finally managing to roll over so she could see him.

"And not nearly enough with you," he agreed, leaning over to kiss her gently.

"How is it I can't stay mad at you?" she wondered, ignoring the hangover in favor of reaching up to brush his hair away from his face. "I get my heart and head broken into pieces in the same night, you apologize and finally tell me the truth…" She paused and shrugged helplessly. "But you're the only one who can comfort me and even when I wake up hungover because of you, I can't stay mad at you. Why is that?"

He chuckled softly and ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know, but I'm not complaining."

She smiled in return as he gave her a gentle squeeze and got up out of the bed. Jenna noticed he hadn't gotten undressed at all last night. His shirt was a little wrinkled.

"You know, most guys I've slept with would've taken advantage of my drunken state last night," she commented with a teasing smile as she sank into the warmth he'd left behind.

"I'm not most guys," he answered, making sure all of the buttons were done up on his shirt.

"No, you aren’t," she murmured in agreement.

"I'm gonna go grab you some water and a little aspirin," he told her, placing a hand on the doorknob as he looked back at her. "Are you gonna be okay up here until I get back?"

She nodded, scowling as her head throbbed. "If I'm not moving, I've probably fallen back asleep."

His chuckle greeted her ears as her eyes slid shut. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Or maybe that was the leftover alcohol talking. Who knew?

#

The kitchen was empty when Ric arrived downstairs, but by the time he'd grabbed a glass of water and the bottle of aspirin for Jenna, John and Elena had joined him.

"How's Jenna?" Elena asked immediately.

"She's got a hangover, but she's fine," Ric answered, glancing at John. "I'm letting her sleep it off today." Maybe luck would be with him and the bastard wouldn't say anything about it.

"I thought I told you I didn't want you to stay over anymore," John told him coolly.

Ric should have known better than to hope where John was concerned. "Well, lucky for me it's not up to you," he responded, brushing past John's obnoxious face and barely resisting the urge to punch him again.

"I asked him to stay," Elena spoke up, hands on her hips as Ric turned to look at them again. "I knew Jenna would need him with her and I felt better having someone competent in the house."

Ric locked eyes with her for half a second and hoped it was enough time to convey his gratitude to her for covering for him like that. John didn't answer, so Ric headed back upstairs to Jenna. She was still awake when he got back, but just barely. The aspirin and water were downed with a practiced ease and soon enough Jenna was looking a little better.

"Jenna," he began hesitantly, knowing this was probably not at all the right time to bring this up. "When you're feeling better, we need to have another talk. About Isobel."

Jenna frowned up at him, obviously wondering what else there could be to tell. "Okay. I'll try to make it speedy then."

"I'm gonna run a couple of errands, but I'll be back soon. Try to get some rest, okay?"

She nodded just a little, presumably trying not to upset her hangover as much as possible. He paused for a minute and then leaned over to barely brush his lips against her forehead. He'd missed her while she was angry with him and now that she knew the truth, he wanted to make it up to her. To do that, he had to tell her other things about Isobel, things about Isobel's obsession, about John's ring, everything he knew. They couldn't have any more secrets and lies hanging between them. He couldn't do that to her again.


	3. Know Thy Enemy - Part 2

Elena stayed downstairs long enough to make sure Alaric got back up to Jenna before she leveled one last piercing glare at John and headed back upstairs herself. Stefan was still waiting up there for her and they still needed to figure out what was going on with Isobel. Why was she even there?

Alaric's reappearance outside Jenna's door pushed her thoughts away and she hurried up the last couple of stairs. "Is she okay?"

Alaric glanced at her and nodded, looking about as worried as Elena felt. "The hangover's killing her a little bit, but she'll be fine." He pushed past her to the top of the stairs and then paused, turning around to face her as she watched him. "I think she could use a little time to talk to you if you can manage it. It might do her some good."

Elena's eyes met his and she nodded seriously. Jenna probably could use a short check up and besides Elena wanted to be sure her aunt was okay anyway. Not that she didn't trust Alaric, but it would make her feel better to have made the effort after what had happened last night.

Taking a deep breath, she approached Jenna's room, debating if she should knock or not. On the one hand, that would be the polite thing to do, but on the other hand, if Alaric was right, that would be a cruel thing for Jenna's hangover. So, Elena just went for opening the door as quietly as she could.

"Jenna?" she called softly, peering through the doorway to see if her aunt was awake still. Jenna shifted on the bed, squinting up at her.

"Elena?"

"I just wanted to check up on you," Elena answered, propping the door closed and coming to sit on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Regret, confusion, pain," Jenna listed off truthfully, rolling onto her back to look at Elena better.

Elena understood that pain all too well and she was pretty sure she was responsible for at least two of those. No, wait, the lying had been her fault and that was what had driven her aunt to get drunk last night. Right.

She would have said something in response, but the way Jenna was looking at her stopped her. Elena was pretty sure she saw a little worry mixed in with all the pain from the hangover. Feeling responsible, she reached over to touch Jenna's hand.

"You okay?"

Jenna nodded, wincing. "Yeah. Still trying to process everything."

Elena smiled understandingly, remembering how it had felt for her when she'd found out about Stefan.

"Elena…"

Jenna seemed to be trying to come up with a good way to say whatever was on her mind. In an effort not to distract her, Elena remained silent, giving her aunt's hand a gentle, encouraging squeeze.

"I'm sorry about last night, for running out on you."

Elena couldn't believe that was really bothering Jenna. "No, Jenna. _I'm_ sorry. I should've told you everything when I found out. Maybe then none of this would've happened."

"Hey." Jenna returned the squeeze. "Like I told Ric last night… I understand why you did it. Doesn’t make it any easier to deal with, but I understand. I've forgiven you both."

"Jenna…" Elena could feel tears sliding down her cheeks and she leaned down to give her aunt a careful hug. It meant so much to her that Jenna could be this understanding and forgiving. Her aunt's heart was amazing and Elena couldn't tell her how much she appreciated that. When she pulled back, Jenna's eyes were shining as well.

"Oh… and at some point today… can you go to the Lockwoods' and pick up the check from the historical foundation? I was going to do it, but…"

Elena smiled as her aunt trailed off, knowing the hangover was going to be preventing her from doing a lot. "Sure."

Jenna flashed her a grateful smile. "And as much as I would love to sit here and talk to you, I think I need to sleep this sucker off."

Elena managed another smile and a nod, letting go and standing up again. "Just feel better, Jenna. If you need anything, the offer to just call me still stands, okay?"

Jenna nodded carefully again, settling back on her side as Elena left the room. Elena could hear Stefan's voice through her own closed door and frowned. He didn't sound happy. Her first thought was along the lines of 'what now?' She hated how that had become her normal reaction.

"You have to find him, you have to calm him down, compel him if you have to. Is he still on vervain?"

Elena stepped quietly into her room, shutting the door behind her and frowning at Stefan as she sat down on the window seat. From what she could hear of the conversation, it sounded like Caroline was having trouble with Matt again and she worried for her friend. Stefan sighed and hung up the phone as she sat down next to Elena.

"This is bad," she sighed, feeling like everything was crashing down around her. "Between Isobel and Jenna and now Matt, this is a disaster pad."

And they needed to figure out some way to deal with it. Preferably not involving John, she thought as he climbed up the stairs and into her line of vision. Anger and resentment boiled up inside her as she watched him cross the hallway to her door. She didn't want him here. He was messing everything up.

"Elena," he began, as she shifted her chin defiantly at him, unaware of how much it made her look like Katherine, "can you come downstairs, please? I need to talk to you."

She let out a disbelieving breath that he could even _ask_ such a thing of her after everything he'd done lately and looked to the side. She refused to give him the satisfaction of eye contact until she wanted to. "I have nothing to say to you," she informed him with a pointed stare.

"Please," he pressed, clearly not going to take no for an answer. "It's important. You, too, Stefan."

Elena's expression creased into a frown and she traded confused looks with Stefan. What could John possibly want with both of them? He probably wanted to talk downstairs because Jenna was still here and whatever he wanted to say he didn't want her to hear. Whatever it was, Elena would tell Jenna later. No more lies.

Still wondering what was going on, Elena led the way back down to the kitchen. It didn't take her long to figure out what was going on. Isobel was standing in the kitchen doorway. Elena felt as if she'd been slapped. How dare he…

"I asked John for a do-over," Isobel spoke up, as though this explanation would make up for everything.

Knowing Stefan would be watching Isobel for her, Elena turned incredulously to John. "You invited her in?"

John tucked his hands in his pockets. "She has information about Klaus," he told her, as if this made it all better. "Please, just… listen to her, okay?"

Elena didn't understand where he got off thinking he had any right to jerk her around like this. She gave Stefan a tight-jawed look that clearly said she wasn't pleased by this development.

Stefan rubbed her shoulder as she folded her arms over her chest defiantly and passed her protectively. "All right. What do you know?"

Elena wasn't happy about it, but as Isobel turned and sat down at the kitchen table, she was willing to at least listen.

"Since I was last here, I've been doing everything possible to find Klaus," Isobel began as Elena paced the kitchen. She couldn't stand still; she was too anxious and angry. "We knew our best chance was to find him before he could find you."

"Best chance of what?" Stefan interrupted. Elena was glad he was there. He could be calm where she couldn't. Her blood was still boiling in anger.

"Keeping Elena alive," John answered, sparking her ire further.

"You don't get to talk, okay?" she snapped, tired of how he kept trying to intervene in her life. It was the most surreal form of talking with her real, birth parents. She would never consider them her parents, biological or not, but some part of her would always remember. Looking at them both sitting there in her kitchen made the reminder all too real and it was the strangest sensation. "Not after everything you've done."

John didn't answer, and for that she was glad. She didn't want to argue with him in front of Isobel. The less Isobel knew and heard from her, the better.

"Were you able to _find_ Klaus?" Stefan asked as Elena turned her back on the scene to cool off. She was grateful for the distraction. It gave her a chance to attempt to calm down.

"No," Isobel answered immediately. "Nobody knows where he is."

Elena glanced over her shoulder at Isobel, wondering how on earth they could protect her from someone who was God only knew where.

"But there are these rumors that are flying around that a doppelganger exists."

"Which means that any vampire that wants to get in favor with Klaus will be lining up to capture you," John added in.

Elena's sense of foreboding increased and her gaze moved to Stefan as he looked over his shoulder at her. Neither of them liked this revelation, though Elena found it hard to trust.

"I'm not buying any of this," she informed them defiantly. She didn't believe for a moment that they had her best interests at heart. Otherwise, they wouldn't have tried to pull Jenna away from her. Stepping forward, she fixed them both with a pointedly disbelieving expression before settling her gaze on Isobel. "The last time you were here, you made it clear that you didn't give a _damn_ about me and now all of a sudden I'm supposed to believe that you want to _help_?

"Isobel's been helping all along," John interrupted quietly.

Elena fixed him with a glare that clearly said she didn't buy his little act. If he wanted to put his trust in a monster like Isobel, he was free to do it, but Elena refused to be pulled into that.

"Klaus has been obsessed with finding Katherine for centuries," John continued. "All it would take was any one of those 1864 tomb vampires to spread the word around that Katherine's still alive and that'd bring him straight here to Mystic Falls where you are bound to be discovered."

And, belatedly, that explained the Founder's Day massacre last year.

"So we killed them."

"And almost killed Stefan and Damon in the process!" Elena shot back.

John nodded, at least seeming to understand how that had affected her. "Yeah."

Isobel stood then, taking Elena's attention. "I have a safe house that I could take you to. The deed is in your name. No vampires can get in without your permission." Isobel paused for a split second and Elena allowed the trace of wonder at this. "Not even me."

What was Isobel playing at? Elena stared at her in confusion. Why was this all happening now?

"Let me help you," Isobel requested. Elena detected a note of longing and pleading in the woman's voice and hated herself for how much that sound hurt. For so long, she'd wanted to know her real mother… and then she'd met what a cold and callous person Isobel had become… and now, just the thought that there might be actual humanity under all of those icy and uncaring layers made Elena's heart _ache_. Jenna was the only parental figure she could trust, though. She had to remind herself of that.

"You wanna help?" Elena questioned softly.

Isobel lifted her chin. Elena ignored the way Isobel's eyes shone with tears in the light. Cold vampire tears wouldn't work on her - _couldn't_ \- if she wanted to survive.

"Then get the hell out of my house," Elena told her firmly, stepping close enough to seem threatening. If Isobel wanted to try anything, Elena knew Stefan would protect her.

Isobel paused, obviously taking in what Elena had said. For a moment, Elena wasn't sure she was going to take the hint, but after a while she nodded and turned to leave the house.

"Elena-"

"No," Elena snapped, cutting John off without even looking at him as she watched her birth mother leave the house. "I'm done talking to you."

And she was. Her head felt like it was going to explode and she just wanted all of this to be over with. Shooting John one last glare, she headed back upstairs to her room to deal with the headache she felt brewing.

#

Ric's day was going terribly. It wasn't as bad as he knew it could have been - Jenna's forgiveness and acceptance of the truth had a lot to do with that - but it was still pretty bad. He could only hope that Elena and Jenna were safe at home for the day and would still be when he got back. He wasn't expecting that achingly familiar voice as he shut the car door, nor the appearance of his dead vampire wife.

"Hi, Ric," she called to him, using that tone of voice she used to have when she was really happy to see him. It hurt to his core and he pushed those memories away violently. Isobel was gone. He was with Jenna now and Jenna definitely loved him far more than Isobel ever had.

"Isobel." Her name was like acid on his tongue. "What do you want?"

She shook her head. "Just cleaning up some loose ends."

His first thought was to wonder who she was going to threaten this time. If Elena of Jenna were on the list, he would happily stake her to save them.

"Yeah, we don't have any loose ends," he informed her sharply, wishing she would just leave him alone. He was tired of having her hanging over everything he did.

"You may not," she admitted, and suddenly he knew where this was going. "I do."

Not now, Isobel. He had things to do, people to protect.

"I need to apologize to you."

Apologize? Bitch.

"It's a little late for that."

How dare she come back and nearly ruin everything he had going for him and then have the audacity to apologize for it?

"No, not for what I've done in the past," she corrected. "We're beyond that."

Ric turned to face her, frowning in confusion.

"Although, I am sorry for outing you to your girlfriend. That was petty of me."

"Lucky for you, Elena did that for you," Ric informed her. "She knew before you showed up."

If the look on Isobel's face was any indication, apparently he'd surprised her. Good.

"Look, whatever jacked up vampire amends that you're trying to make with me right now?" he continued, hoping to knock her further off her platform of stability. If she even had one. "I'm not interested."

He had Jenna. Life was better with her than it ever had been or could have been with Isobel.

"Of _course_ not because I compelled you to let me go."

Ric stopped and stared at her. He remembered that last time they'd met and how he'd told her to kill him or compel him… and how he'd felt free once she'd gone. And now she was telling him so he'd feel bad about not caring anymore.

Bitch.

"I realize that I don't want to do what I have to do without you knowing how much I loved you."

Was she trying to make him hate her? Because the idea that she'd kept all this inside for so long, disappeared without a trace - stepping all over his love for her in the process - and then came back just now to tell him how much she loved him made him want to spit in her face.

…And yet it still hurt.

"And I did. I loved you so much."

He didn’t know what she was trying to accomplish, but it was hurting all over again. It felt like he was losing her a second time and he hated it.

"He's all yours."

Her last words confused Ric and he almost got a chance to ask before something in his head snapped. Pain ripped through him and he fell to the ground. The last thing he saw before his vision clouded was his wife walking away from him, leaving him to die. And his last thought was to his girlfriend.

_Jenna!_

#

Elena's mind was groggy. She could tell she was in a car, but for a while, she couldn't tell who was driving or where they were. The she heard Isobel's voice and her fear soared. Her vervain necklace was gone and she was in a car with Isobel. Her phone was gone, presumably still with Katherine, so she couldn't even make a call for help. Fighting down a sense of desperation, Elena slowly sat up and waited for them to get to wherever they were going.

She was surprised a while later to look out the window and find them pulling into a cemetery. What was going on? Was Isobel going to turn her over to Klaus or something? Had this protection thing all been a joke? Elena considered staying in the car as Isobel got out, but she knew it would be better if she went along with them for now.

"Just because you can't be compelled doesn't mean I can't force you to come with me," Isobel told her, walking away. Elena got out of the car, glaring at the man she was pretty sure Isobel had compelled to help her.

"So, is that what happened?" Elena asked in disgust. "You were compelled to betray Katherine?"

"If I was, I couldn't tell you."

Elena really should have known better than to expect a straight answer out of Isobel.

"So, you lied," Elena summed up, trying to put all the pieces together. "You did find Klaus. Didn't you? He knows where I am now."

Isobel's silence was getting on Elena's nerves. Wasn't she going to say anything?

"Are you taking me to him?"

_Say something!_

As if in answer, Isobel stopped in front of a gravestone. Elena ignored it, focusing on trying to get Isobel to say something, _anything_.

"What is this?"

Again, Isobel didn't answer; she just knelt down to brush away leaves from the base of the grave. Elena's gaze followed and she frowned as she suddenly noticed the name engraved on it: Isobel Flemming. So this was what Isobel had wanted to show her.

"My parents," Isobel began, standing back up, "your grandparents…"

Elena frowned warily as she listened, wondering why Isobel had brought her here.

"They put it here when it became clear that the police weren't going to find my body. They visit every week and they bring flowers, even though there's no one buried here."

Elena stayed silent, unsure of how she was supposed to feel about all of this.

"The Isobel they knew… is dead. So maybe there's a part of me that's buried here, the human part. The part that I abandoned when I chose to become a vampire."

Elena's narrowed eyes still reflected the wariness she was feeling, but they were starting to soften in spite of her. None of this could ever make up for all that Isobel had done. Even so, Elena was starting to understand her a little better.

"The part that used to dream about the day that she'd know her daughter."

Then Isobel delivered a line like that and Elena felt her resolve shaking. "What?" Elena breathed, confusion, hurt, and wonder written all over her face. She hadn't honestly thought Isobel had ever felt something like that.

Isobel shrugged. "Instead, you got to meet the other part, the part that would betray her own flesh and blood."

Elena didn't know what to say. This revelation was huge to her, and at the same time, she wasn't sure she believed it.

Isobel's phone ringing prevented her from having to respond. Elena turned away and took a few steps in the opposite direction, hoping to calm her spinning head. She didn't want to be here. Everything was too confusing.

She could only hear half of the conversation, but she wasn't sure she wanted to hear anything else.

"Let her go?"

Isobel's questioning tone brought Elena back around to face her. Was that Klaus?

"I'm done?"

Done with what? Had Klaus really compelled her and was she done with what he compelled her to do?

Whatever it was, Isobel was clearly relieved. That much Elena could be certain of.

"Who was that?" Elena asked, unable to keep the slight tremble out of her voice.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," Isobel responded, ignoring her question.

Despite everything, Elena felt tears welling up in her eyes. Every meeting with her birth mother had ended in tears. This wasn't how she had hoped it would be when she'd first found out she was adopted. And even with everything Isobel had done, Elena couldn't help feeling a little bit sorry for her.

"I was such a disappointment to you."

And that was the truth. Still, Elena was finding it hard to hate Isobel as much as she had earlier.

"Here."

Elena blinked as Isobel held out her phone.

"Call your Salvatore boys to come get you."

Elena took the phone hesitantly, wondering if this was another trap. Her eyes moved to Isobel's neck as the vampire's hand strayed to her necklace and tugged at it. What was she trying to do?

"I won't need it anymore. I don't _want_ it."

A tear slipped down Elena's cheek as she listened to the pain in Isobel's voice, pain her own expression echoed.

"With any luck… we'll never see each other again. Good-bye, Elena."

And with that, Isobel turned and sped off into the distance. Elena cradled the phone to her chest as she sank to the ground. Tears poured from her eyes and she cried for the mother she had never known, the one whose humanity was buried beneath the ground her daughter was crying on.

#

Once she'd calmed down enough to talk, Elena called Stefan. In a matter of minutes - though it felt like ages to her - he was running towards her. She barely managed to stand up before he'd pulled her into his arms and was holding her against him. Having him there with her brought it all back and Elena let herself cry onto his shoulder. But at least she felt safe now.

Eventually, she pulled back and wordlessly motioned towards the grave. He didn't respond right away, but the look in his eyes told her he understood.

"Where is she?" he asked gently.

Elena shook her head. "Gone. She's gone."

Her mother was gone, gone forever with luck, and Elena felt a part of her was gone with her.

#

It was long after John had left the boarding house when Stefan walked back into the room with a frown on his face and his phone to his ear.

"No, we haven't. But we got Elena back. Here. Why don't you talk to her?"

Elena frowned at him as he handed her the phone. "Hello?"

"Elena?"

"Jenna? Is something wrong?" Worry for her aunt flooded her. She hoped nothing had happened while she'd been gone.

"Have you heard from Ric? He was supposed to come back hours ago, but I haven't heard from him all day and he's not answering his phone."

"He's not?" Her eyes flashed up to Stefan, who was listening in, as clueless as she was.

"No! I'm worried about him, Elena. If he's lying to me again-"

"If he is, then he's lying to all of us." This was not what they needed. Not today. "Here, if it'll make you feel better, I'll send Stefan over to get you and bring you here. That way you'll be with me and we'll have Stefan and Damon to watch out for us."

"Okay." Jenna sounded a little relieved and Elena couldn't blame her. "What about Jeremy?"

"He's got Bonnie and John. He'll be fine. I'll see you soon, Jenna."

She clicked off Stefan's phone and handed it back.

"I told her Katherine and Isobel pulled one on us and that Katherine had your phone," he explained. "She was upset at not having been able to reach any of us all day."

"For good reason," Elena sighed. "You don't mind going to get her?"

Stefan shook his head. "If it'll let you both rest easy, then it's fine. I'll be right back."

"Thank you," she called after him. He turned to smile at her as he walked out, leaving Elena to ponder her fate and wonder if anything would ever be normal again.


	4. The Last Dance

Klaus was not pleased by any of this. The body he was currently inhabiting would be useful, yes - horrid fashion sense or not - but he really was not looking forward to dealing with these crazy people. At all. He wanted his ritual done and he wanted his doppelgangers caught. He already had one in his possession. He just needed the other and to take out any resistance on her side. Which was why he was borrowing this body: to learn as much as he could about Elena and her guardians.

"Okay, pop quiz. The dagger and white ash are in the Salvatores' possession, correct?" he asked Katerina as he got dressed.

"The dagger was used to kill Elijah," she answered, sitting in a chair in the middle of the room and looking like she wanted to be _anywhere_ else. "You'll find him in the basement of the Salvatore House."

"Okay, that dagger needs to stay _exactly_ where it is. Last thing I need to do is resurrect Elijah. That guy is a buzzkill."

"Don't forget you're on the outs with your girlfriend Jenna," Katerina hissed, reminding Klaus of at least half of the reason he was using this body. He had plans for Jenna.

"Right," he muttered, filing that away for later. "Elena's aunt, for all the lies about Isobel, who is currently sleeping off a hangover… according to Isobel. I need to thank her for all of the information. She seems to know everything."

"Where is she?"

Klaus paused and took a few steps closer to Katerina, wondering what she could possibly want with Isobel's whereabouts. "Now why... would you ask such a thing?"

"Curiosity. She is Elena's mother after all."

Klaus gazed into her eyes, punctuating the fact that she was powerless to leave. "She is somewhere safe, Katerina. She will join us soon enough. Now what else do you know?"

"That's it," she answered immediately, making him suspicious. Walking even closer to her, he reached down to stroke one hand against the side of her hair. She visibly choked up, clearly terrified of him. As she should have been for what had transpired 500 years ago.

"So jumpy," he murmured, letting his hand fall back to where it had been at his side.

"Please, just kill me," she pleaded with ragged breaths. "I've told you everything that I know."

He simply gazed into her eyes, leaning over to place his hands on the arms of her chair. Could she really know the magnitude of what she had done?

"You see, I believe that you believe that," he told her, watching as she tried to squirm away from him. Her efforts were almost laughable at this point. "But what would you _not_ know?"

The downward tilt to her head told him everything.

"What could they be keeping from you, hm? Anything?"

She looked up at him defiantly and he seized the moment to compel her. "Tell me."

"They were trying to see if Bonnie could find a way to kill an Original without a dagger," she answered easily.

That didn't sound good. "Bonnie, the best friend?"

She nodded once, barely, and he stood back up, turning this over in his head as he folded his arms over his chest. Bonnie the witch. She could prove to be a problem if he let her live long enough.

"I thought you said she didn't have her powers anymore."

"She doesn't," Katerina answered with no small amount of annoyance. "Or didn't. I-I don't know. You kidnapped me, remember? I'm kind of out of the loop."

"Well," he began with a sharp intake of breath, "we'll have to get to the bottom of that."

"Please, just kill me, Klaus-" she begged again. He could hear the anger and fear bottled up into hatred in her voice. Good. She had sense to be afraid of him. "-and be done with it."

"Show you kindness?" he responded softly, looking for all the world like she was breaking his heart. "I searched for you for over 500 years. Your death… is going to last at least half that."

Realization dawned on Katerina's face and he knew he'd finally gotten through to her. It was about time she realized where her place was. Now he just needed to make sure she _felt_ it.

Pulling out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket - what kind of crap did this guy keep with him anyway? - Klaus opened it up, examining it for a second while he spoke.

"I want you to take this knife and stab yourself," he instructed, offering Katerina the blade. She would have no choice but to do so while under his compulsion.

Katerina looked up at him like he'd just asked her to cut off an arm. His chin rose in a rather _inviting_ way and slowly she reached up to take the knife. A moment later, she did what she'd been told to do, spattering blood all over her leg to his satisfaction.

"Now take it out."

She obeyed again with another grunt of pain.

"Now while I'm gone I want you to do that over and over and over again. And if you get bored…" He grinned down at her. "…switch legs."

"Where are you going?" she asked, desperation clear in her tone.

He leaned back over to rest against the chair's arms again. "I'm going to go lay eyes on my precious doppelganger," he answered, voice no louder than a whisper. Katerina pulled away again, clearly repulsed by his proximity to her. As if to make it even worse for her, he pushed forward, leaning towards her to give a gentle kiss to her forehead in parting.

"Now don't look so glum, Katerina," he chastised her, tilting her chin up easily as she tried to avoid his touch. "The fun is just beginning."

And oh how fun it would be.

Pulling away from her, he walked off, down the length of the room before he called back to her: "Again."

The sound of her pain would follow him the rest of the day, pleasantly, like the sound of birds chirping to a normal person.

#

Jenna's week just kept getting better. Her hangover was gone, but Alaric _still_ wasn't answering her calls and that had her worried. She was still staying with Elena at the Salvatores', which was now apparently Elena's, and barring any incidents with Damon, she felt pretty safe there. He and Stefan would protect Elena and that was important to her.

So when Elena came back and announced that Klaus had compelled someone to tell her he'd be at the dance, she felt that safety fall over on its head. She was last to get down to the unofficial meeting, but from the sound of it Alaric was on his way and she wanted to talk to him afterwards.

Soon enough, he did turn up, but he didn't so much as turn to her before Damon addressed him. Jenna didn't really hear what they were saying; she was paying more attention to the way Alaric was acting. Something seemed off. He should have said something to her by now. It wasn't like she was exactly hiding behind Elena or anything. The meeting had officially broken up by the time she worked up the nerve to confront him.

"Alaric!" she called, hurrying outside right behind him.

He turned around, frowning at her. "Jenna? Are you okay?"

She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself. "Just wondering why you didn't drop by again last night." Her jaw tightened as she clenched it worriedly. If he was hiding things from her again, she didn't know what she'd do. She didn't want to lose him to lies a second time. "And you haven't answered my calls."

"Oh, right, my phone died," he answered, wincing and then flashing her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Jenna. I meant to call you back, but I had work this morning. You understand, don't you?"

She nodded as he reached out to tuck a chunk of hair behind her ear, not quite leaning into the touch. "Yeah. I understand." She understood that there were things he wasn't telling her. Again. She hated this feeling. "You're going to the dance, right?"

"To keep an eye out for Klaus," he replied, leaning over to her forehead. "Don't worry. I'll keep Elena safe. I promise."

Pursing her lips, Jenna nodded a second time as he let go of her and turned to leave. Something still didn't feel right, but she couldn't place what. She was momentarily distracted from her thoughts by the sound of Stefan joining her outside. He glanced at her, frowning at the look on her face.

"You okay?"

She sighed and shrugged in response as she moved to head back inside. "He's hiding something again."

Stefan's confusion deepened. "Hiding something? Like what?"

"Wish I knew," she admitted longingly. "I just know he's acting weird."

And she wished he would talk to her about it. But he wouldn't, obviously, and all she could do was wait. She hated waiting, but Elena had already begged her not to go to the dance. Jenna couldn't exactly turn around and demand to go now just to make sure everything was okay with Alaric. Whatever happened would happen and wherever Klaus was hiding, Jenna had to hope they could manage to flush him out and deal with him without her.

#

With the list of ways to amuse herself and keep her worry at bay dwindling hours later, Jenna felt relieved when the front door opened again, knowing it meant that someone was home. Hurrying into the entryway, she was greeted by the sound of Elena's sobs, and all of her relief was wiped away instantly.

"Elena?" she called, picking up the worried parental figure role she'd fallen into over the last two years. "Elena, what happened?"

Stefan shook his head, supporting Elena as they walked past Jenna. "You were right about Alaric," he told her as he placed Elena on the couch by the fireplace.

Jenna took a seat next to her niece, pulling Elena into her arms so she could cry on her aunt's shoulder. "What happened?" she repeated, cradling Elena close to her.

Stefan sighed as he started building a fire for them. "Alaric's being possessed. I don't know how long it's been going on, but Klaus decided to take his body for a test drive."

"What?" Jenna gasped, looking over Elena's head at Stefan in shock.

Stefan shrugged. "Apparently, he knows a witch. And he killed Bonnie."

Those words struck Jenna like a hammer to her stomach. Elena's sobs increased dramatically at that point and Jenna held her niece close, trying not to think about what this meant. They were down a really powerful witch and one of Elena's closest friends now. And who knew if Alaric was still alive or not.

She didn't want to think about that, so she just focused on comforting Elena as best she could. The sound of the door opening again brought them all to look at Damon as he entered the house.

"What did you do with her?" Elena demanded, shoving off Jenna's arms and throwing herself to her feet. Jenna stood up as well, though slower, and she hung back to listen rather than interfere.

"Please calm her down," Damon grumbled to Stefan, stopping in front of Elena.

"Don't talk like I'm not standing right in front of you," Elena choked out.

"Please. Calm. Down."

"You knew! Didn't you?"

Jenna could hear the pain in Elena's voice and it broke her heart, but she knew Elena would just shove her off again if she tried to comfort her now.

"You knew that if she harnessed all that power that she would die, didn't you?"

So that was what had happened. Pieces were falling into place for Jenna, but she didn't like them at all.

"Yes," Damon finally admitted.

Elena let out an enraged roar and slapped Damon hard across his cheek. Jenna jumped a little in surprise. She couldn't really blame Elena. She probably would have done the same were their roles reversed.

"You need to listen to me," Damon began, looking directly into Elena's eyes, "and prepare for what I'm about to say."

Jenna traded looks with Stefan and took a few steps forward in case she would need to restrain Elena.

"Bonnie had to die. Klaus using Alaric's body was a total surprise. She wasn't prepared for that. And he wasn't going to stop, and we weren't going to be able to stop him, until he knew that she was dead. He had to _believe_ it."

Comprehension started dawning on all three of them at the same time.

"She cast a spell. Bonnie's okay."

Elena, Stefan, and Jenna all traded confused looks. Jenna didn't quite know what to do with that information. What she did know was that they'd all need proof, especially Elena.

"Is there any way Elena can talk to her?" she asked as Damon walked away. "Where is she?"

"At the witches' place," he answered. "Jeremy's with her. He said if it's safe there, he'll be able to get internet. You figure it out."

"Video chat," Elena whispered.

"Here, you can use my laptop," Jenna told her, scurrying to the couch, where her school things were. She noticed Stefan following Damon, but pushed that out of her mind as she brought out her laptop and fired it up. Placing it on the coffee table, she turned it towards her niece as Elena walked over and sank to her knees.

Knowing this wasn't one of those conversations she needed to stick around for, Jenna stood again and headed up to her room. Someday soon, she hoped all of this would be over, but until then, she had to settle for supporting her niece through whatever happened, both good and bad.


	5. Klaus

Jenna's day started early, but apparently not early enough. She just preparing herself for breakfast when she heard Stefan calling for Elena. Panic immediately swelled up and she hurried to meet him in the entryway.

"Stefan?"

"Have you seen Elena?"

She shook her head, wondering where Elena could possibly be if Stefan didn't even know. That idea scared her. What if Klaus had come to take her?

Damon didn't seem to know, either, and that didn't make Jenna feel any better. She paused in the hallway as Stefan looked around. Elena wasn't answering her phone - both Jenna and Stefan had tried calling her - and Jenna's worry was mounting by the time Stefan dashed off. Damon seemed to know what was up and he hurried off, hot on Stefan's heels. Jenna had no idea what they were thinking, so she returned to trying to call Elena. She still hadn't gotten a response by the time the vampires returned, but the looks on their faces stopped her from trying again.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Elena let Elijah out," Damon answered, looking none too pleased by this.

"Elijah? You mean the guy from the historical foundation?"

What could he have been doing down there?

The two brothers traded looks and Damon rolled his eyes.

"You wanna do the honors, Stef, 'cause I'm not really feeling it."

Stefan sighed and shot Damon a pointed look. "Elijah's another Original. He's been involved in this whole thing from the start and now I think she's off somewhere with him-"

"-trying to get herself killed so the rest of us won't die," Damon finished snappily, storming off down the hallway again.

Stefan and Jenna traded looks. Unfortunately, they both knew he was probably right. Still, that didn't make it any better. Jenna headed into the main gathering room to sit down. This was just a little too much for her to handle. A while later, both Stefan and Damon joined her as Stefan tried calling Elena again. Jenna stayed nearby in case she picked up this time. Luckily for them, she did.

"Where are you? You okay?"

Jenna perked up a little, moving closer so she could tell what was going on. Damon traded glances with her before they both focused on Stefan.

"Where's Elijah?"

She wished she could hear the rest of the conversation. Damon certainly could and she felt like the odd man out.

"Where? I'm on my way."

That didn't sound good.

"Listen to me. He can't be trusted. He'll use you to get to Klaus."

Whatever was going on over there, Jenna didn't like it.

"You can't do this alone."

A few moments of silence passed. And then-

"She just hang up on you?" Damon asked incredulously.

Stefan nodded. "She did."

"She's lost it."

Jenna was beginning to wonder. "Maybe Bonnie's near-death experience changed her mind." It was the only thing she could think of that would explain this sudden change. The brothers seemed to be ignoring her, though, so she fell silent for a while after.

"She's still lost it."

"If anyone can get him to help us kill Klaus, it's her."

"Bonnie's the way to kill Klaus, Stefan. He thinks she's dead. We have a chance with her."

Jenna shook her head. She knew Elena. Her niece wouldn't want to risk Bonnie's life.

"Look, Damon. I don't like this any more than you do, but we need to trust her. We gotta just let her do her thing."

Jenna decided now was a good time to leave. She stood up and inched her way out of the room, not really wanting to see the results of a brotherly argument. She didn't go far, though, also not wanting to get too far out of the loop in case Elena returned or called back. The last few days had been a blur for her and she wasn't really sure what to do with all that had happened. All she knew was that life had just gotten extremely complicated for all of them.

"Hey, Jenna?" Stefan called.

She hurried back into the room. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to go check on Jeremy and Bonnie," he told her, checking her over to be sure she was okay. "Will you be all right here?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine."

Stefan just offered a tight-lipped smile and headed out. Today was certainly _not_ going to be a very fun day, Jenna mused, as she sat back down to amuse herself with her thesis again.

The second he was out the door, Damon turned up.

"Jenna, I need your help."

She blinked warily up at him. "My help with what?" She wasn't sure she liked the implications of this.

"You’re human, I'm not," he explained. "And there's something I need to do at Alaric's."

Jenna frowned. "But Elena said he's possessed."

"He is, but he's also more than likely gone right now and there's something I need to get to Katherine. Possibly."

Jenna's eyebrows rose disbelievingly. What was he on about?

"Besides, if you go with me, you can be sure I don't do anything stupid."

The way he said that made Jenna assume Elena had said he would. She sighed and finally stood, figuring he was probably right about that. At least this way she could keep an eye on him.

"What are we doing?"

"Taking Katherine a little vervain. If she can build up a tolerance to it again, maybe she can make Klaus' life a little more difficult." He glanced at her and quirked an eyebrow. "I think it's worth a shot."

Jenna shook her head and followed him. "All right, but this was your idea."

"All mine," he agreed, holding the door open for her. "Let's go."


End file.
